The Singing Pastor

After Years As An Entertainer, She Felt A `Very Light Tap On The Shoulder'

February 02, 2003|By FRANCES GRANDY TAYLOR; Courant Staff Writer

A five-star cruise ship seems an unlikely place to embark on a path to the ministry, but it was the start of the journey for the Rev. Doreen McFarlane.

Traveling the world performing as a classical soprano with her husband, Michael McFarlane, a baritone, the couple saw first-hand the extremes of poverty and wealth in many countries.

``We didn't know we were preparing for the ministry. That was the last thing we were thinking about,'' McFarlane said. ``But because of this, we were able to observe the poverty in the world. We were in Mogadishu, South Africa, during apartheid, Russia under communism. In Bombay, we saw people without clothing or food.''

Also, as entertainers on the ship, the McFarlanes met many passengers. Despite their life of privilege and their luxurious surroundings, many of the passengers were needy in other ways, McFarlane said.

``The wealthy people were also in need of love and ministering and attention,'' she said. ``We spent a lot of time listening to them.''

After 15 years touring together as opera singers on cruise ships and elsewhere, both McFarlanes, who have been married 21 years, gradually came to realize they had a calling to be ministers. In the last half-dozen years, they both were ordained ministers in the United Church of Christ.

Doreen McFarlane, 57, was recently installed as pastor of the Flagg Road United Church of Christ in West Hartford. The ceremony featured a performance by Michael McFarlane and tenor John H. Murray of the New York Metropolitan Opera.

``She has a wonderful sense of humor and a wonderful delivery,'' says Sally Williams, 66, a church member. ``She has a Bible study class that is very stimulating, not at all what you would think of as Bible study. I find her charming and fun to be with.''

The church has a nursery school and owns 14 senior-citizen cottages next door. Members describe it as a small, intimate congregation with about 60 people attending on a typical Sunday morning.

``This is a special kind of church, and she matches the needs of this church,'' says Peter Libassi, 73, a former deacon. ``She links the scripture to the real-life problems and challenges that people are facing.''

Before coming to West Hartford, McFarlane was a pastor at UCC churches in Sarasota, Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. She served five years at a large congregational church in Rockford, Ill., where she received her doctorate in Bible from the Chicago Theological Seminary. At the same time, Michael entered the seminary and later served as pastor at a small rural church in Garden Prairie, Ill.

The couple met in the 1980s, when Michael was visiting Toronto, where Doreen lived. He was with an agency looking for a soprano for an upcoming tour and attended a concert at which he heard Doreen, a singer with the Canadian Opera.

``She was the best-looking one there,'' so he hired her, he says. ``It's like the old joke: I know a good soprano when I see one.''

They decided to become a singing team and were married just before the start of an 11-month cruise-ship tour in 1982. The couple, who were both married previously, have three grown daughters between them and are expecting their first grandchild this month.

``Doreen thought it would be unseemly to travel with me for 11 months on a ship and we were not married. So we got married in Fort Lauderdale, got on the ship two days later. It was a like an 11-month honeymoon. It was a great way to start.''

Though she never expected to become a minister, religion had long been an interest, McFarlane recalls.

Between singing engagements, when her husband was away on tour, she began to explore religion. She read the Bible from cover to cover during another cruise-ship tour. They laugh as they recall that Michael didn't think she would do it. But just as they pulled into the driveway at home, ``I said, `Slow down, honey; I'm in Revelation [the last book].'''

``What I discovered about myself was that I was deeply moved by reading but also very curious about what it all meant,'' she says. ``That was the beginning of my strong curiosity about what was this word of God and where did it come from, and what did it mean. So along with my faith journey was an intellectual or academic journey.''

McFarlane refers to her call to the ministry as a ``light tap'' on the shoulder.

When a bad cold prevented her from singing at choir practice one day, she listened to the others sing and was struck by the line, ``God says, whom shall I send?''

``Most people expect to hear that a thunderbolt event happened, and often that's true. But I think it can also be just a very light tap on the shoulder,'' she says.

``And I started thinking, maybe you don't have to be a man; maybe you don't have to be 30 years old. Maybe God would make it possible for you to get the education you need, and maybe a church would need you, and maybe you could do it. It was light tap, but it was very real.'' McFarlane was ordained in 1992 at age 45.

Music was also preparation for the ministry, Michael McFarlane says. When singing, ``you want to touch them with something real. And in the ministry, you have direct contact with people in their most vulnerable times. If you have an understanding of human nature, you can be very effective.''

While Doreen takes over the church, Michael will continue his music career, or possibly find a church of his own at some point. Doreen says she will continue to sing occasionally, but her focus will be on the church.

The couple produced a CD in 2001 called ``Sing Beauty,'' which includes poetry by Jack Perkins and music by John Horton Murray. Michael has also produced his own CD, singing the songs of John McCormack, a popular Irish tenor of the 1920s.

Doreen McFarlane says she feels at home at the Flagg Road church: ``I feel that I can be a powerful preacher with this congregation.''